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On being an information entrepreneurMon, 19 Jan 2015 06:20:49 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1The Imposter Syndrome: Or How I Learned to Get Over My Panic Attic, Love My Promotion, and Make My To-Do Listhttp://www.infonista.com/2015/the-imposter-syndrome-or-how-i-learned-to-get-over-my-panic-attic-love-my-promotion-and-make-my-to-do-list/
http://www.infonista.com/2015/the-imposter-syndrome-or-how-i-learned-to-get-over-my-panic-attic-love-my-promotion-and-make-my-to-do-list/#commentsMon, 19 Jan 2015 06:20:49 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=900What is Imposter Syndrome?
Basically, imposter syndrome (IS) is the sense that you’ve been promoted beyond your abilities, that you’re in over your head, that through some combination of luck and others’ misperceptions, you’ve landed in a position for which your skills are wildly inadequate.

It’s the career version of performance anxiety, aggravated by a dread that you might be “found out” at any moment. It may not be rational, it may fly in the face of years’ worth of accomplishments, but it’s estimated that some 70 percent of successful men and women experience this chronic and often crippling self-doubt.

And that’s exactly what hit me when my boss gave me what he thought was terrific news about my promotion. His rationale was that he’d worked with me for 18 months, knew my strengths and weaknesses, and thought this was something I’d be good at. My reaction was that he’d completely overestimated my strengths, underestimated my weaknesses, and we were all about to find out in the most awful way possible…In essence I was going to be “found out.” Classic imposter syndrome.

Do Any of These Sound Familiar?
Imposter feelings, i.e., a sense of being in over your head, of feeling “undeserving” of success, may manifest as:

Feeling like a fraud who has somehow managed, intentionally or unintentionally, to deceive others as to your capabilities

Assuming that your career achievements are due to luck, or being in the right place at the right time, or other external factors not based on your actual skills or value as a contributor

Dismissing, discounting, or downplaying your successes to yourself and others with statements like “anyone could have done it,” “it wasn’t that important,” or “I really got lucky on that one.”

Points out IS expert Valerie Young, “self-doubt and negative feedback weigh heavily on the mind, but praise barely registers. You attribute your failures to a stable, inner core of ineptness. Meanwhile, you discount your successes as accidental or, worse, as just so many confidence jobs. Every positive is a false positive…..”

IS is most prevalent among perfectionists, academics, and others whose careers are based on performing intellectually. This anxiety can be accompanied by fear of success, a pressure not to fail, or unrealistic expectations in yourself in new situations.

Coping – or masking – mechanisms may include being overly diligent (read: working really, really hard), figuring out what behavior influential people in your life want from you and “mirroring” that – no matter how inauthentic that behavior is to the real you, or studiously avoiding drawing any attention to your strengths or accomplishments to avoid being seen as overly confident.

The IS Checklist: Where Do You Fall?
Wondering if you’re suffering from IS? Some of the questions experts use when assessing the presence of IS include:

Do you secretly worry that people will discover you’re not as smart or competent as they thought you were?

Do you have a difficult time accepting praise?

Do you hesitate to take on challenging opportunities because you’re afraid your lack of ability will be exposed?

Do you avoid presenting your ideas or opinions in meetings in order to avoid exposing your self-perceived lack of knowledge?

Do you have a hard time taking credit for your accomplishments, instead attributing them to good luck or others’ efforts?

Do you see making mistakes as a personal failure, and not being perfect as a weakness?

Do you feel like everyone you compare yourself to is smarter, more capable, more deserving of success than you?

Do you worry with every new responsibility that this will be the one that unmasks you as a fraud?

If you’ve got mostly “yes” answers here, join the club! Almost every friend I spoke with (mostly librarians) who had achieved any level of career success as defined by status, salary, or title, felt exactly the same way.

Getting Beyond the Imposter Syndrome
If it causes you enough anxiety, IS can limit your life in many ways: it can stop you from taking a great new job, limit your earning power, constrain your ability to contribute all that your skills qualify you for, and quite frankly, make working much less fun than it might be.

So what are some ways to get beyond the self-doubts and anxiety that IS lands on (and in) our heads? Here are some tips from the experts, all of which I tried and am happy to report actually do work pretty well:

Recognize when IS may be driving your reactions, for example, when you’re feeling panic rather than elation at a job promotion, and work to short-circuit your emotions with a strong does of reality-check. Feeling incompetent does not equate to being incompetent.

Realize that what you are experiencing is not a sign of weakness or incompetence, but rather an indicator of a conscientious nature, and a sense of seriousness about responsibility – any idiot can be overconfident, so pat yourself on the back for your thoughtfulness.

Accept that just about everyone else you know, in a similar circumstance, would probably experience the exact same self-doubt reaction (based on the fact that almost every librarian I know is an over-achiever); what’s important is whether you allow that anxiety to hold you back.

Be willing to discuss your feelings with trusted friends and colleagues, to get them out of your head and into the reality light of day.

Learn to recognize when you are discounting yourself and your accomplishments with statements like “I was just lucky,” and try instead statements like “I worked really hard/was really on top of my game/did some great writing, etc.” Let yourself – or rather insist – that you OWN your accomplishments.

Check your self-doubt against reality by revisiting those accomplishments; my guess is you have, in fact, faced unfamiliar situations or roles or responsibilities and managed to figure them out just fine.

Develop a healthy respect for the limits of your abilities, knowing that these aren’t weaknesses, these are simply areas that you haven’t yet chosen to develop into strengths. Then be honest about those areas when a promotion possibility is under discussion so you won’t feel like you have to “hide” those areas; instead, you can ask questions openly and learn from those who have those strengths.

Lighten up, and unload the burden of perfectionism. Any new opportunity involves a certain amount of tap-dancing, and that necessarily entails learning new things, making mistakes, and having to ask lots of questions. This is called growth, not incompetence.

Trust that the people who’ve worked with you and promoted you are not idiots – in my case, my CEO (whom, as already stated, is one of the smartest guys I know) had seen me work for 18 months and decided that I would do a good job coordinating strategy for the company. I may doubt myself, but I don’t doubt him, so his confidence in me boosts my confidence in me.

Pay attention to whether you’re feeling IS anxiety or a true mismatch between a job and your real self. If the latter, then make a change to a position that aligns more closely with who you are and what you enjoy. But be sure this change is based on positive growth rather than damaging fear.

In my case, I resorted to a large glass of wine, an evening of soul searching, and finally a determination that I really wanted to take on the strategy role to help drive the company’s impact on the lives of people with disabilities. Then I took out my laptop, and started making my to-do list….

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2015/the-imposter-syndrome-or-how-i-learned-to-get-over-my-panic-attic-love-my-promotion-and-make-my-to-do-list/feed/2What’s Up With the Elevator Speech?http://www.infonista.com/2014/whats-up-with-the-elevator-speech/
http://www.infonista.com/2014/whats-up-with-the-elevator-speech/#commentsWed, 31 Dec 2014 02:10:59 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=893Well, for starters, it shouldn’t really be a speech, but rather a brief exchange between two people momentarily sharing a connection in passing. But essentially, your piece of this exchange should be a roughly 30-second explanation of what you do (or what you would do amazingly well if given the opportunity) in language that’s clear, concise, and conversational. It’s an essential part of your professional brand, and yet often it’s one of the toughest things to come up with.

Based on the idea that you’re in an elevator with someone who asks you what you do and you’ve got the length of the elevator ride to dazzle them (or at least pique their interest), your description should focus not so much on what you do, but on the benefits of what you do for your employer, customers, or perhaps clients. If possible, you want to tailor this information to resonate with your listener; as Mary Ellen Bates has pointed out, this is much easier to do if you can first find out a bit about your fellow elevator rider.

Introducing Yourself
As noted, you want your self-description to explain not just what you do, but also the benefits those skills provide. So, for example, you might start out with a statement similar to one of these:

“I’m a librarian at the Castlewood Public Library, and I use my information skills to work with job-seekers who are unfamiliar with online job-hunting to help them increase their confidence and success rate.”

“I’m a programmer with a company that develops websites for online retailers, and I help clients translate their ideas into terrific purchase experiences for their customers.”

“I manage a great team of information specialists who manage and analyze data for a business consulting firm that places in the top five customer satisfaction rankings every year.”

“I’m an HR specialist and I get to work with all of our new hires to make sure they’re successful in their new careers with our college library.”

“I’m studying to get my master’s degree in information science so I can get my dream job working with a law firm that specializes in environmental law.”

“I recently graduated with a degree in instructional design, and I’m currently volunteering with the local community college while pursuing job openings with all of the different types of companies that need instructional design.”

Creating a Conversation
Notice how each of these statements positions you to your fellow elevator rider: you’ve expressed enthusiasm for what you do, you’ve indicated that you’re an engaged professional, and you’ve demonstrated that you’re sufficiently confident to be able to talk to a stranger.

By also graciously asking about the other person, you’ve demonstrated your social skills and emotional intelligence. In fact, this approach provides you with two benefits: 1) you don’t come across as a self-absorbed, boring jerk, and 2) it tells you whether the conversation might develop into a valuable professional connection for you both.

In addition, each one of these possible introductions gives your companion an opening to ask you more about what you do. It’s almost as if you’re providing the opening line of an interesting story. If you’ve expressed enthusiasm for your work (or potential work), people are likely to want to hear more, which gives you an opportunity to talk a bit more about your career and/or career aspirations (with the goal of demonstrating your value and contribution). If asked, you can give an example of something your skills enabled you to do that you’re really proud of, or think especially interesting. Or you can ask the other person to share the same about himself or herself.

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2014/whats-up-with-the-elevator-speech/feed/1The Broaden-and-Build Careerhttp://www.infonista.com/2014/the-broaden-and-build-career/
http://www.infonista.com/2014/the-broaden-and-build-career/#commentsSat, 10 May 2014 02:36:26 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=880While doing research for a client recently I came across the Broaden-and-Build theory of positive emotions – basically, you’re building on your existing positive emotions to broaden your positive experience of the world, and then continuing to build out from there. It dawned on me that this is a terrific analogy for what most of us are ending up doing with our careers.

We start with a basic “platform” of LIS skills, then broaden and build out from there, usually either to create new opportunities or in response to new job responsibilities. The question is, in what direction does it make sense for us to broaden and build? If you commit to ongoing professional development, you want to make sure the new skills you’re mastering open up the opportunities that pique your interest.

A Build-and-Broaden Career
I spoke with an amazing information professional today, Michele Lucero, who is the Director of Client Development for LAC Group. Her career began with ten years of public library work. But between then and now, she’s worked

– in law librarianship (first legal research then management),
– for a vendor (client relationships, market development, training),
– as a Communications Director for another law library (public relations, social media, events planning, branding),
– as an adjunct professor for an MLIS program as well as for another university in a non-MLIS program (instructional design, teaching, mentoring), and
– as a local coordinator for a remotely-delivered MLIS program (outreach, communication, marketing, recruitment).

During this period Michele also completed an MBA to boost her business skills, a master’s degree in Dispute Resolution to enhance her ability to work with individuals and groups (including clients), and is currently completing her doctorate in Organizational Leadership. In addition, during her less than three years with LAC, Michele has progressed from Director of Business Development & Recruiting to Director of Business Development & Client Services to Director of Client Development.

The “Broaden” Part
Among all the interesting aspects of Michele’s professional trajectory, one of the most fascinating to me was all of the “broadening and building” she has done throughout her career. When asked what additional skills she felt had been important to pick up along the way, she mentioned sales, project management, instructional design, team management and leadership, conflict management, customer service, public presentation skills, relationship management, and recruitment, which is a combination of almost all these skills.

Needless to say, Michele is an exceptionally high achiever, and if she weren’t such a delightful, caring, and warm human being we could almost get away with tagging her as a fluke of nature. But the reality is that she’s a perfect example of how far – and in how many diverse directions – you can take your career if you adopt a “broaden-and-build” mindset.

Where Will You Build?
Although I’m not at Michele’s level of amazing breadth of skills, my own career has broadened beyond my initial MLIS skill set to include instructional design, business writing, online content development, client relations, marketing, public relations, personal coaching, project management, and team leadership, among other skills. Some were developed in response to career opportunities, others to new responsibilities. But regardless, each eventually ended up being part of my core skill set for which clients would hire me.

When you think about broadening and building your own career, think about what kinds of opportunities you want to open up in your future, even if those are at your current employer. What additional skills will enable you to contribute in a new way or at a higher level? You probably don’t need another master’s degree, but it’s just good “career insurance” to be regularly adding new elements to what you know and can do with that knowledge.

The alternative is to stay right where you are…while the world, and the profession, passes you by.

The SLA Core Competencies Revision Task Force has completed its initial revision work, and would like to ask all interested parties (including MLIS students interested in a special library-related career path) to weigh in with their comments. (The document draft is included below; the final document will be graphically designed.)

The SURVEY is brief (perhaps 5-10 minutes) and if you’d like to participate, please complete it by Friday, May 9. On behalf of the Task Force Members (Kim Dority, Kate Arnold, Anne Caputo, Susan Fifer-Canby, Cindy Hill, Deb Hunt, Carolyn Sosnowski, Jan Sykes), thank you in advance for your review and feedback.

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2014/feedback-revised-sla-core-competencies-draft/feed/1Reboot Your LIS Career?http://www.infonista.com/2013/reboot-your-lis-career/
http://www.infonista.com/2013/reboot-your-lis-career/#commentsMon, 02 Sep 2013 03:09:05 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=846According to marketing whiz Mitch Joel, author of Ctrl Alt Delete (Business Plus, 2013), we’re all sort of hanging out in uncharted territory these days, or as Joel puts it “purgatory.” New media technology has forever changed both the way we do business and the way we communicate with each other. Even those companies (and individuals) willing to adapt aren’t quite sure which way to adapt to ensure their future viability – or employability.

Joel’s goal is to provide a reboot roadmap for businesses (Section 1) and individuals (Section 2) that will help them successfully navigate future opportunities. His key message is that digital interaction and communication is rapidly becoming the medium (and skill set) through which all future opportunities will be realized. As a corollary, the rapid technological changes that will infuse this digital environment mean that careers will no longer be in any way “linear” – instead you’ll be pretty much constantly expanding your skills in the direction of new opportunities.

To quote the author,

…there are bigger forces at play: technology, connectivity, mobility, analytics, data, creativity, commerce, publishing, and more that will continue to reshape and change how we do business. So where does this leave you and our career? Do you adapt or die? Maybe it’s more like tweak, iterate, and get comfortable with the squiggle [Joel’s term for nonlinear career growth] as this purgatory unfolds. (p.149)

So what does all of this mean to those of us tap-dancing as fast as we can to keep our LIS skills aligned with emerging career opportunities? I’d translate his key points as 1) pay attention to what’s happening on the edges of things, where opportunities often emerge; 2) watch for “collisions” of ideas that cross departmental lines and see where and how you can contribute; 3) think of yourself as a perpetual entrepreneur, coming up with new solutions and identifying or creating new markets for your skills. Suggests Joel,

Seeking moments of collision, looking for new and interesting projects to take on, understanding that work has become a project-based place where groups come together, solve problems, and then look for more problems, have all become parts of the new normal for most businesses. It is those exact skill sets that you must embrace in the here and now. (p. 165)

Although the book’s pitch isn’t necessarily targeted toward LIS professionals, a lot of its key messages resonate with the chaotic employment environment we’re currently navigating. Especially Joel’s advice to “see yourself as an explorer, colonizer, and navigator of your own destiny.” Yep, it’s going to be important for us to embrace the squiggle – or at the very least, determine that we won’t be derailed by it.

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2013/reboot-your-lis-career/feed/1Alternative Jobs/Career Paths for Former School Librarianshttp://www.infonista.com/2013/alternative-jobscareer-paths-for-former-school-librarians/
http://www.infonista.com/2013/alternative-jobscareer-paths-for-former-school-librarians/#commentsMon, 26 Aug 2013 01:32:07 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=839The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about the high (and increasing) number of public middle and high schools going without professional school librarians in the state of New York. Existing positions were being eliminated, new schools were being created without any librarians on staff. I started a discussion on the LIS Career Options LinkedIn group asking whether this was part of a broader trend across the country. The response: absolutely.

The American Association of School Librarians is advocating in the strongest possible terms for the importance and existence of (if not commitment to) school librarians. But the end result so far has been a continued decrease in the number of jobs. According to ALA’s State of America’s Libraries Report 2013, school librarians have been the ones to “bear the brunt of staff reductions,” dropping from a total of 54,445 positions in 2006-2007 to 50,300 in 2010-2011. One can only surmise how increasingly dismal these numbers are becoming given the sequestration effects.

My next question to the group was what types of related career paths laid-off school librarians might pursue. Since school librarianship is the LIS discipline I know least well, I imagined that there might be many solid transferable skills that individuals could repurpose for new job opportunities. The response: not so much.

Notes the ALA report,

ALA President Maureen Sullivan has reacted to threats to school library instructional programs by launching a Special Presidential Task Force on School Libraries. The task force is leading a campaign “addressing the urgent need for advocacy for school libraries, as well as the impact of the de-professionalization and curtailment of school library instructional programs on students and student achievement.”

The task force, which continues the work of 2011–2012 ALA President Molly Raphael, will, among other things, collaborate with member groups to coordinate implementation of the campaign, serve as liaisons to key ALA divisions and other groups, and assist in outreach efforts to various external partners.

Advocacy is always terrific, but it needs to go hand-in-hand with reality, in this case the reality of hundreds (thousands?) of school librarians who’ve lost their jobs as well as students and recent graduates of school librarianship programs who have no chance of landing a job in their chosen field. The profession needs not only to advocate for school librarians, but to help them repurpose their skills and expertise so they can find new jobs and/or career paths if that advocacy is unsuccessful. And by “the profession,” I mean the leadership of ALA, AASL, and the 40-plus graduate or certification programs across the country.

In the meantime, how can the rest of us help our unemployed (or potentially soon-to-be) colleagues? Perhaps those of you who know former school librarians who’ve mapped their professional skills could post their stories here, or to the LIS Career Options group. Perhaps someone attending an AASL conference could organize a “transferable skills” brainstorming session. Perhaps a grad student could research and describe career alternatives for former school librarians as a course assignment, then post his/her findings online. Perhaps ALA and/or AASL could award a grant to someone who would research this topic and identify credible re-careering options for former school librarians.

There are things that can be done to concretely and usefully address this situation, but no amount of advocacy is going to help all of the laid-off school librarians or the students and grads who will never find professional jobs in the field for which they studied. They need help figuring what else they can do with their skills, and they need that help NOW.

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2013/alternative-jobscareer-paths-for-former-school-librarians/feed/1How to Be the Manager Everyone (Including You) Wants to Work Forhttp://www.infonista.com/2013/how-to-be-the-manager-everyone-including-you-wants-to-work-for/
http://www.infonista.com/2013/how-to-be-the-manager-everyone-including-you-wants-to-work-for/#commentsSun, 18 Aug 2013 17:44:28 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=824Over the course of a highly eclectic career, I’ve had the ah, opportunity, to observe the management skills (or lack thereof) of many bosses. Since almost no one is trained in how to manage people effectively, I’ve generally been willing to cut them some slack based on the idea that I probably couldn’t do much better.

Despite that, I’ve ended up managing people and teams numerous times – and pretty much always felt like my primary goal (besides completing our project) was to not screw up my team members. “Winging it” was probably too generous a description of my best efforts….

Which is why this INC. post by a guy named Jeff Haden really struck me, both for its simplicity and clarity. In 10 Things Extraordinary Bosses Give Employees, Haden notes that “Good bosses care about getting important things done. Exceptional bosses care about their people.”

According to Haden, who comes from a manufacturing background, managers should strive to provide ten things for their employees:

Haden elaborates a bit on each point, noting why it’s important and/or how to implement. The result? In less than 1,000 words, he provides one of the best overviews I’ve ever read of how to manage people ethically, humanely, and in a manner guaranteed to call forth their best efforts. When I read his post, I kept thinking how amazing it would be to work for someone who understood how incredibly important – and motivating – these points are. Talk about a high-performance workplace!

If you manage people in a library or other information setting, this is a terrific (and brief) read to see where you might improve your management approach. If you’re one of the people being managed? Haden’s post may give you ideas on how you might be able to work with your manager to develop these approaches in your department.

At the very least, they’ll be great guidelines for you to keep in mind when you start managing others.

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2013/how-to-be-the-manager-everyone-including-you-wants-to-work-for/feed/0Signal vs. Noise: LinkedIn Endorsementshttp://www.infonista.com/2013/signal-vs-noise-linkedin-endorsements/
http://www.infonista.com/2013/signal-vs-noise-linkedin-endorsements/#commentsTue, 13 Aug 2013 22:27:19 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=821You know the drill: it’s important to have at least two (three’s better) LinkedIn recommendations for each one of your jobs, preferably from a boss, client, or higher-up colleague. These are basically written verifications of your outstanding abilities, and focus on the strengths you’d most like to be known for, by people who have seen your abilities in action. All good.

But recently LinkedIn introduced a feature that many of us are still scratching our heads about – what the heck are Endorsements, what value do they have, and, most importantly, is this something potential employers might be paying attention to?

How Endorsements Work
LinkedIn regularly makes suggestions on people’s home pages as to individuals in their network they may want to “endorse,” and the skills for which they might want to endorse them. If you approve those endorsements from your connections, they’ll show up in your profile between the Experience and Education sections. (Additionally, if you approve someone’s endorsement of your skill[s], LinkedIn will suggest that you endorse them right back for a skill relevant to their profile.)

Influencing What Skills You’re Endorsed For
In order to specify what skills you’re likely to garner endorsements for, it helps to have already selected the key stills or strengths you’d like to be known for. To do this, go to your profile and select the relevant terms under “Skills and Expertise” – this will at least provide a better chance that people are endorsing you for skills you’d actually like to have associated with you. If you don’t do this, LinkedIn will cruise through your profile and choose the skills it thinks apply. You can guess how well that works.

Is It Rude Not to Endorse People Back?
No one can quite figure this out, but my practice has been to only reciprocate an endorsement if the individual is someone who’s work I know well and can genuinely recommend. I don’t return endorsements for people I’ve never worked with, because it feels dishonest to recommend a skill for which I have no genuine knowledge. On the other hand, every time I exercise that moment of ethical choice and don’t endorse someone back I feel like a miserable, ungenerous human being….

What If You Don’t Want Any Endorsements?
Although you can’t stop people from endorsing your skills, it’s easy enough to control whether or not they show up on your profile. Simply click on Profile > Edit Profile and then go to the Skills & Expertise section (between Experience and Education sections). Clicking on the pencil icon will bring up the edit feature, and one of your options will be “Display” – click on the “No” choice, which will keep endorsements from showing up on your profile.

Also, if someone endorses you for a skill that you don’t want to have in your profile, you can choose not to accept the endorsement.

Will Potential Employers Pay Attention to Endorsements?
At this point, the general response seems to be no. Anyone who’s familiar with LinkedIn understands how little value attaches to Endorsements. So focus your efforts on having a dynamite profile, some great Recommendations, a solid and growing network, and engagement with the appropriate groups. These will all provide meaningful information to potential employers, and career opportunities for you.

Signal vs Noise
There’s a great phrase that’s been used in numerous settings recently (including Nate Silver’s excellent The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail – But Some Don’t), which is “signal versus noise.” It’s now making the rounds in posts about LinkedIn Endorsements.

Basically, the signal is what’s important and meaningful to pay attention to, whereas the noise is all the extraneous and distracting stuff going on around the signal. I would say that LinkedIn Recommendations fall into the signal category, whereas Endorsements are definitely leaning toward the noise side of things. Other, more forceful, opinions have included such descriptors as “stupid,” “worthless,” “pointless,” “time-wasting,” and “what the hell were they thinking?”

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2013/signal-vs-noise-linkedin-endorsements/feed/0Being an Introvert in an Extrovert’s Careerhttp://www.infonista.com/2013/being-an-introvert-in-an-extroverts-career-2/
http://www.infonista.com/2013/being-an-introvert-in-an-extroverts-career-2/#commentsWed, 31 Jul 2013 04:02:47 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=812Quit your job as a TV anchor and get a degree in library science. But if TV anchoring is
what you love, then create an extroverted persona to get yourself through the day.-Susan Cain, Quiet

It took me a long time to realize I’m an introvert. I’ve never been particularly shy, I enjoy people when I’m hanging out with them, and growing up with three siblings, solitude was a luxury only imagined. It wasn’t until I got older and was better able to control my life circumstances that I began paying attention to when I was most energized, when most depleted. I began to realize that I enjoyed small-group get-togethers much more than large conference-type events. I explored my Myers-Briggs profile and found I was an “INTJ.”

Then, just to confirm the determination, I recently found that out of Cain’s 20 questions to identify extroversion/introversion, 19 of my answers fell firmly into the introvert category.

By the time I’d discovered that I was a quite happily an introvert, however, my career had gone in a direction that called for serious extrovert chops – I was leading teams of people, giving group presentations, teaching classrooms of students, and engaging in ongoing professional activities. There was no question that I would abandon any of these engagements because I loved them all – I was just going to figure out how to maintain my sanity (as a solitude-loving introvert) while performing effectively (as a people-loving extrovert).

I wouldn’t say I’ve nailed it yet, but after reading Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (Crown, 2012), I’m at least heading in the right direction (and feeling a bit less like a freak). An introvert herself, Crain examines why introverts are the way they are, why this is generally a good thing, and how they can learn to play to their many valuable strengths. Her counsel regarding how introverts and extroverts can learn to communicate effectively and with mutual respect is especially valuable for work settings (even if she clearly does have some familiar mis-perceptions about LIS professionals).

Check out a copy of Susan Cain’s Quiet if you –

think you may be an introvert and would like to understand yourself better;

are an extrovert and would like to understand how to build more effective relationships with introverts;

are managing introverts, and want to understand how to help them contribute their “best stuff”; or

like me, are trying to figure out how to be effective in an extrovert career without losing your introvert sanity.

It will answer your questions, provide the encouragement you need, and let you and the world know that introverts can be, in fact, very cool contributors. Sometimes we can even be the life of the party! (If it’s a very, very small party… and doesn’t last too long….)

]]>http://www.infonista.com/2013/being-an-introvert-in-an-extroverts-career-2/feed/0Virtual internship clearinghouse – starting pointshttp://www.infonista.com/2013/virtual-internship-clearinghouse-starting-points/
http://www.infonista.com/2013/virtual-internship-clearinghouse-starting-points/#commentsTue, 18 Jun 2013 16:17:45 +0000http://www.infonista.com/?p=792Thank you to the many LinkedIn LIS Career Options group members who weighed in with absolutely terrific, thoughtful comments about the possibility of creating a virtual internship clearinghouse. Based on their contributions, we now have a “straw man” document to start knocking around.

Project Concept

The LIS Virtual Internship Clearinghouse (VIC) will comprise a searchable database of library- or information-based internships that could be completed by LIS students, recent grads, and job-hunters via online communication and virtual project work.

The goals of the VIC will be to:

• Provide practical, professional-level internships and projects for LIS students and unemployed practitioners needing to gain professional experience to build evidence of their ability to use their LIS skills in a real-world setting

• Provide libraries, nonprofits, and other organizations unable to otherwise afford this level of expertise an opportunity to work with skilled, technologically-savvy LIS students and unemployed practitioners to create programs, resources, and tools for their constituencies

• Create a model program of LIS social innovation that would benefit students, job seekers, and public-good organizations (especially underfunded public libraries), with the hope and expectation that the LIS professional organizations and graduate schools will look for additional opportunities to create programs that utilize LIS students and unemployed graduates for community benefit and impact

Participants in the VIC will be:

• MLIS students for whom a place-based internship is unavailable or not feasible due to scheduling, geographic, or other constraints (including the hundreds MLIS students pursuing online degrees)

• LIS practitioners currently unable to find employment and wanting to find opportunities to demonstrate to potential employers their ongoing skills value, commitment to and engagement with LIS work, and personal initiative

• Organizations that have identified an information-project need of some sort for which they lack the requisite funding, staff skills, or staff time, but would be able to work virtually with an intern to undertake and complete the project

Project Execution Overview (draft points)

The following action items are not listed in the exact order in which they will take place; rather, they represent elements that need to be addressed at some point within the project execution plan.